— Japan Yosano: Not Aware of Any BOJ Plan For Additional Easing
TOKYO (MNI) – Japanese Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru
Yosano said on Tuesday that he is not aware of any government plan for
intervention in the foreign exchange market or any Bank of Japan plan to
take additional monetary policy easing steps.
The Nikkei busienss daily reported Tuesday that the Japanese
government is preparing to intervene in currency markets to stem the
appreciation of the yen after it approached a record high against the
dollar in recent days. In addition, the newspaper said the Bank of
Japan has already started considering additional monetary easing.
But Yosano said: “I have not heard such things at all.”
He declined to comment whether or not possible Japanese government
foreign exchange market intervention or possible further BOJ easing
would be desirable for the Japanese economy, saying: “the forex issue is
the prerogative of the finance minister.”
He added Japanese exporters will continue to face severe conditions
over the longer term due to the strong yen.
The yen rose to Y76.29 against the U.S. dollar overnight, just
short of the all-time high of Y76.25 reached on March 17, just after
the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11. The Group
of Seven industrial nations agreed to jointly intervene in forex markets
at that time, modestly easing the yen’s value.
tokyo@marketnews.com
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